Diagnosis & need
Au pair for sensory disability
Support for families with children with a visual or hearing impairment
When a child cannot see or hear at all, or only to a limited extent, everyday family life can require more support, organisation and time in certain areas.
Nursery (Kita), school, leisure activities, therapies, doctor's appointments and family life all have to be brought together. At the same time, children with a sensory disability want to become just as independent, play, meet friends, get out and about, and discover their everyday life like anyone else.
An au pair for a child with a sensory disability can support families in daily life and create additional time and relief.
At Besondere Sterne we place au pairs specifically with families who have children with and without a disability or additional needs – including families with children with a visual impairment, blindness, hearing impairment, being hard of hearing, or being deaf.
What does sensory disability mean in everyday life?
The term sensory disability covers different impairments of sensory perception.
These include, in particular:
- visual impairment,
- blindness,
- hearing impairment,
- being hard of hearing,
- being deaf,
- combined visual and hearing impairments.
How much support a child needs in everyday life as a result varies a great deal.
A child with a visual impairment may, for example, be able to do many things independently, but need orientation or company in an unfamiliar environment.
A deaf or hard-of-hearing child, in turn, may be completely independent physically, but may communicate through sign language, spoken language, supporting signs, or other forms of communication.
That is why the same applies here too:
The diagnosis alone does not say how much support a child needs in everyday life.
How can an au pair support a child with a sensory disability?
An au pair can accompany a child through their normal daily routine and relieve parents of many everyday tasks.
Depending on age, independence and support needs, an au pair can, for example:
- play, read, do crafts or be active outdoors together,
- accompany the child to nursery (Kita) or school,
- accompany them to leisure activities or therapy appointments,
- support everyday routines,
- provide orientation in familiar everyday situations,
- get to know and use the family's agreed forms of communication,
- accompany free time and outings together,
- look after siblings,
- prepare simple meals for the children,
- take on light tasks around the children,
- accompany and structure afternoons,
- provide babysitting within the agreed working hours.
Which tasks make sense always depends on the individual child.
Au pair for a child with a visual impairment or blindness
A child with a visual impairment or blindness does not automatically need help with everything.
Many children develop strategies early on to find their way around independently and manage their everyday life.
An au pair should therefore learn when support is needed – and when it is not.
Parents can show how their child orients themselves, which routes they already know, which aids they use, and how support should be offered.
An au pair can, for example, accompany familiar routes, be present at leisure activities, or describe things and situations verbally where this is helpful for the child.
The aim should not be to take as much off the child's hands as possible.
It is rather about enabling independence and providing security where it is needed.
Au pair for a deaf or hard-of-hearing child
With a hearing impairment too, individual communication is especially important.
Some children wear hearing aids or a cochlear implant and communicate mainly through spoken language. Others use German Sign Language or supporting signs. Others again use various forms of communication alongside one another.
An au pair does not automatically need to already know sign language.
If sign language plays an important role in everyday family life, however, it should be clarified before the placement which skills are required and whether the au pair is willing to learn important signs and forms of communication.
Understanding often begins with something very simple:
An interest in understanding how this child communicates.
Safety and orientation in everyday life
Road traffic, public transport, unfamiliar buildings, playgrounds or larger events can bring particular demands depending on the sensory disability involved.
An au pair should therefore find out precisely from the parents in which situations the child can get around independently and when company is needed.
This is not about constantly protecting a child or limiting their independence.
On the contrary:
A reliable companion can help a child take part in everyday life more, because an extra person is available for situations where support is needed.
Participation instead of a special programme
An au pair does not need to constantly organise special activities for a child with a sensory disability.
It is often about exactly the same things as for other children:
Playground. Meeting friends. Eating ice cream. Sport. Crafts. Music. Outings. Cooking together. Being out and about in the afternoon.
Perhaps an activity needs to be adapted. Perhaps the child needs company or extra orientation with it.
But an au pair's task is not to turn every afternoon into a support programme.
An au pair is allowed simply to be part of everyday life.
Which au pair suits a child with a sensory disability?
That depends on what the child needs.
For a child with a visual impairment, it can, for example, be important that the au pair communicates attentively, can provide orientation, and at the same time respects the child's independence.
For a deaf child, willingness to engage with a different form of communication, or to learn signs, can be decisive.
Depending on support needs, experience with children with a disability can also be helpful.
At least as important, however, are patience, openness, reliability and a willingness to learn from the child and the family.
An au pair does not replace a qualified professional
An au pair is not a medical, therapeutic or education professional.
They do not carry out therapy or medical tasks that require a corresponding qualification.
Special support measures are also not automatically part of an au pair's tasks.
An au pair can, however, accompany what happens every day:
Journeys. Playing. Communication. Free time. Routines. Siblings. Afternoons. Family life.
And that is exactly where an extra person can provide great relief.
When further particular circumstances are also present
A sensory disability can occur on its own or alongside other particular circumstances.
A child may, for example, also have a developmental delay, a physical or learning disability, epilepsy, a rare disease or a genetic condition.
Children with several disabilities or multiple disabilities can also have very different support needs.
That is why, at Besondere Sterne, we do not look at individual diagnoses in isolation, but at the whole situation of the child and their family.
Relief for the whole family
Support does not always have to mean that the au pair mainly looks after the child with a sensory disability.
Perhaps one parent takes their child to an appointment while the au pair looks after the siblings in the meantime.
Perhaps the au pair takes on a nursery (Kita) run, goes to sport with a sibling, or spends an afternoon with the other children.
This is how relief arises exactly where a family actually needs it.
Finding an au pair for a child with a sensory disability
At Besondere Sterne we support families with visually impaired, blind, hard-of-hearing or deaf children in finding a suitable au pair.
Together we look at how your child communicates, how independent they are in everyday life, where they need support, and which qualities an au pair should bring for your family.
You can then get to know suitable au pairs and decide for yourself which person fits your child and your family.
Getting to know each other
Are you looking for an au pair for a child with a visual impairment, blindness, a hearing impairment or being deaf?
Then get to know our au pairs and find support that fits your everyday family life.
Besondere Sterne is an au pair agency — not a special-education service and not an advice centre. For legal and specialist questions there is the EUTB: teilhabeberatung.de. Go to whichever advice centre you feel comfortable with.